It Is What It Is

December 23, 2018

Today was a long exhausting day not because of anything we did but because it was one long stressful day.

We were up around 5:00AM. We spent the night at a Loves Truck Stop just east of Springfield, MO and even though we were parked among the Semis we both slept surprisingly well. We got ready for the day and Tom walked over and brought back coffee which we enjoyed while we talked about the day ahead. Then we noticed it was snowing so we opened the front curtain Tom started the Stinger "B" up I checked our lights and we pulled out around 6:45AM. We were not even 5 miles down the highway when the snow stopped checking the weather I could see we were right on the edge of it and had driven out of it. Not long after that even though it was still dark Tom said the road looked dry and then we got a whiff of ammonia. We took the next exit and as luck would have it there was a Walmart to pull into. We got the doors open and open the roof vent and the smell was out of the motorhome quickly. Yes, we presently do not have a refrigerator. We carry to soft sided coolers for grocery shopping and Tom went in to Walmart and bought a larger one and ice. We then packed everything we could into these three coolers. So far we have probably lost about $20 worth of food. Hopefully, we will be able to save everything else. Yes, I did have about a 30 minute melt down concerning this mostly while Tom was in Walmart. The thing is in trying to be efficient and not have to shop on the road I had bought enough food to pretty well get us through the New Year. So far the coolers are doing there job and I remember back in the day how we tented for a week at a time and all we had were two coolers so I know it is doable I just wish we did not have to do it. It is what it is so we looked around and noticed a IHOP about a block away and we decided to walk over and have breakfast while we discussed what to do next. We had passed a Camping World the day before and it was not that far back but it did not open till 11:00AM. It did not make sense to us to wait until then with it being Sunday and just a couple days before Christmas we were not sure there would be a lot they would be able to do for us. So we decided to just keep heading west.

The highway ahead after we left Springfield, MO

We have crossed into Oklahoma we know this not because of the
Welcome sign but because we have stayed in Miami, OK and stopped
at this very nice Information Center in the past.

We decided to find a full hookup RV park "de-winterize" the Stinger "B", start organizing the inside, and I would go ahead and cook some of the food. In the morning Tom would make some phone calls before we head out and see if we could get something set up for Wednesday. Doesn't that sound like a good plan? The RV Park we pulled up to was lets just say "quaint". Online it said they had 24 sites and I would say in at least half of them the rigs had not moved in awhile. The site was a pull thru and long enough that we did not have to disconnect the Jeep so we thought we can do this for one night. Then Tom went to connect our water and discovered that the bottom of our exterior water filter housing had cracked off so there would be no water. Then when he went to plug into the electric it said 50amps and it was a 50 circuit breaker but the plug in was 30amps. Tom went back and the lady did give us our money back and we moved on. We moved on past Tulsa and on to Oklahoma City.

The sunset through the front windshield just be for we arrived at the
Pilot Truck stop where we parked in the RV area for the night.

Not one of our better days on the road but we survived and we had a good nights sleep. Plus there is a Camping World around 11 minutes away.


December 24, 2018

We were up around 5:00AM again this morning and Tom walked across the parking area to get us each a coffee. Not in a real hurry since the Camping World did not open until 8:00AM. We did arrive about 7:45 and they did have the part we needed so at our next stop we would be able to have water. Talked to them about the refrigerator but they reminded us it was the day before Christmas, yes we did know that and no we did not expect them to do anything today. What we did think was that they would say lets set up something for Wednesday so we can look at it. Or at the very least open up their appointment book and let us know when they could get us in. Nothing like that happened. It was probably the weirdest conversation we have ever had with a service department. So we decided to keep moving find a place to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas then make some phone calls on Wednesday.

Still parked at the Pilot out our side window. the sky is just starting
to light up.

As we drove the sky was a beautiful color. The camera on my phone
really does not do it justice.

Some of the road ahead as we drove west today.

There was a strong cross wind as we headed West today. After about 127 miles and one of our storage doors flying open Tom said, lets find a place to stop. We are in Sayre, OK at the Bobcat Creek RV Park. It is a very "bare bone" park but it is clean and though the sites are gravel the one we are in is level. The owner was very friendly and we have full hookups. We have stayed in Sayre before at the County Park it is always quiet but they do not have full hookups only water and electric but there is a dump station.

So that has been our last couple of days not perfect but not awful. Just life on the road. The refrigerator will either get fixed or we will have to replace it. Until then we will be buying ice.